A gang of six armed robbers raided a branch of a nationalised bank and took away huge cash and gold after holding officials at gunpoint in Birbhum’s Suri town on Tuesday morning.

According to eyewitnesses, a group of six persons, each of them wearing helmets to cover their faces, entered the Suri town branch of the nationalised bank near Rabindrapally one by one as soon as the bank opened for customers.

“They held the acting manager of the branch at gunpoint and snatched his mobile phone and vault keys. The bank personnel informed police that the robbers took away both cash and gold ornaments from the branch,” said a police source and added that bank authorities were yet to furnish the amount of cash robbed and ornaments looted.

Birbhum police chief Raj Nayarayan Mukherjee said police had started a probe but no one was arrested so far.

“We don’t know the actual amount of cash and ornaments robbed from the bank as its authorities are yet to lodge an official complaint with us. However, we rushed to the spot and started a probe. No one has been arrested in this connection so far.”

A police source said the video footage of the CCTV installed inside the bank was not available as the robbers took away the hard drive. However, footage from the CCTV of a roadside shop near the bank showed that the robbers came on motorbikes and left the area with two large bags. They took the road that connects national highway 14, the footage showed.

“Suri is an area that has several roads connecting to nearby Jharkhand and the border with the neighbouring states is just 10 km away. We have contacted the adjacent police stations in Jharkhand to trace the gang,” a police source said.

The robbery raised questions about the security of banks and its customers.